In Australia Valentine’s Day is just a minor blip on the calendar, not the huger than huge occasion it is in the US. Nonetheless it gives me a perfect excuse to dust off my heart-shaped cutters and to create something sweet. Continue reading
Donna Hay chocolate cookies with peppermint filling
7 FebI think I am in the minority when I say it should be a case of ‘never the twain shall meet’ with chocolate and peppermint. Followers of my blog will know that I don’t have a sweet tooth but that’s not the reason for my somewhat controversial belief. Continue reading
Tequila cookies
11 Jan
When I was a teenager, many millennium ago, tequila was the go to drink for party people. Never me, of course – I drank nothing but water on nights out with friends #Ummmm
Anyway, the image of tequila as a cheap and cheerful beverage was only recently extinguished for me when the Hungry Dad brought home a fancy bottle of tequila. Clue number one that it was nothing like the drink of days gone by: the bottle stopper wasn’t a mini sombrero. Clue number two: it wasn’t a ginormous bottle and it cost more than I care to admit. Continue reading
Donna Hay rum & raisin Christmas cookies
19 DecThese are the cookies Santa is waiting for each Christmas Eve as he frantically makes his journey across the planet on his sleigh.
Rich, chunky, chocolatey and with a hint of rum they will give Mr Claus a much needed energy fix to help him keep on keeping on. The oats will help his cholesterol levels after all those other treats he has snacked on during his journey and the rum will soothe his weary bones. Continue reading
Spicy chocolate cookies / biscuits
3 NovI have a dilemma: in Australia we call round, sweet treats served with tea biscuits, or bickies. In America, where many of you lovely people are visiting from, they are called cookies, and biscuits are what we call scones. Sigh. The English language is fraught with dialect difficulties. Continue reading
Easter chocolate brownie biscuits (cookies)
16 AprEaster is one of my favourite times of year. You get to catch up with friends and family, eat delicious food and watch the kid’s faces as they hunt for eggs. And, like Christmas, you get to go completely over the top with your baking. Or is that just me?
As I write this I am preparing to host an Easter Sunday brunch for family. My mum offered to host but all I could think was – some of the desserts aren’t moveable! So we’ll be having everyone here! Amongst my trifles and tarts and bundt cakes I realised I hadn’t hit the chocolate target so I obviously I had to rectify that.
Gather:
55 grams butter
85 grams dark chocolate, chopped
55 grams milk chocolate, chopped
2 large eggs
¼ cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Enough candy-coated mini chocolate eggs to decorate the biscuits [I used two per biscuit]
Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter and chopped chocolate over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. With a metal spoon stir in the eggs, sugars, and vanilla extract. Stir in flour and baking powder.
Using a heaped teaspoon place batter onto the sheet and decorate with two candy-coated eggs. Allow room for them to spread.
Bake for between 7-11 minutes, until just set [you want them to be moist].
Leave on tray for a few minutes before transferring to wire rack.
Honey cinnamon biscuits / cookies
22 AugI need a 12-step program for my cooking magazine addiction. My knees go weak and pulse races when I peruse racks of glossy mags full of pages of gorgeously styles food. Even though I spend hours each week on food blogs and Pinterest and have so, so many recipes squirrelled away I can’t resist the lure of a new food magazine. Continue reading
Salted chocolate chip and toffee biscuits / cookies
7 MayHands up if you think Twitter is addictive? Now, wave your arms in the air like you just don’t care if you find Pinterest more addictive than chocolate? Just as I thought – that site is one helluva a rabbit hole. I always find inspiration and great baking ideas but I spend yonks of time going off on all sorts of fab tangents. Continue reading
Sweet and salty pretzel caramel chocolate chip cookies
7 AprSo, the salty/sweet taste craze is a winner in my books. My first toe-in-the-water test was Nigella’s uber-good salted caramel sauce which I believe to be the answer to most of life’s ills.
These cookies were next. The crunch of the pretzel. The sweetness of the caramel. The softness of the cookie. The sighs of goodness…
Continue reading
Lemon honey biscuits / cookies
17 Feb
At the library recently, I place where I love to hang out, I found the quirkily titled ‘The Cookiepedia’ by Stacy Adimando. This bible to cookies inspired me no end and the first recipe I road-tested was what the author called lemon chewies with honey.
Baking with lemons produces such a wonderful aroma, and I think the smell of baking is sometimes better than eating the end product 🙂 Continue reading










